The CABE Men’s Country team have proved too strong defeating CABE Men’s City 26-14 in the annual Country v City match at Jubilee Stadium today.
Both teams came out of the sheds firing threatening with and without the ball, however it was City who found the first points of the afternoon.
City five-eighth Anthony Layoun buried his way over the line from dummy-half to add four points to the scoreboard for his team (4-0).
Country bounced back shortly after through fullback Callum Gromek who broke into space, pushing past multiple defenders to score and take his team out in front 6-4.
Reduced to 12 men in the 23rd minute when halfback Chad O’Donnell was sent to the sin bin for tripping, Country didn’t let this kill their momentum, working their way up the field and scoring in the 29th minute through second-rower Jacob Kernick who scored under the posts (12-4).
Country found the line once again with two minutes to spare before half-time when O’Donnell kicked a perfectly weighted ball to his centre Matthew Soper-Lawler to score – taking his team out to a comfortable 18-4 lead at the break.
City started the second half strong wasting no time to add points in an attempt to close the score-line. Shifting the ball left to Vito Tevaga, the centre barged his way over the line carrying defenders with him (14-8).
Holding the momentum, a brilliant 40/20 from City halfback Zac Greene saw the away side back in opposition territory. In a similar play to their last try, City shifted the ball left – this time to winger Steven Taupau Sako who scored and brought his side to now only trail by four (18-14).
Country took the difference out to a converted try, kicking a penalty goal in the 52nd minute (20-14).
Country took the difference out to a converted try, kicking a penalty goal in the 52nd minute (20-14).
Despite their best efforts to find themselves back in the game, City proved to be their worst enemy on the day making a handful of handling errors and conceding penalties.
